Open "House" this Sunday!

To All Friends and Family:

Please come to help us celebrate our departure to circumnavigate the world at an Open "House" this Sunday afternoon, December 7th from 2 to 5 pm.  The weather promises to be dry and warmish, something very different from the last COLD week.  Check out this picture of the boat with the (salt!) water frozen here in Squalicum Harbor.

To get to the boat, take F Street down to Roeder, and turn right.   

Go 0.7 miles on Roeder and turn left onto Coho Way.

Take Coho Way for 0.1 mile to the stop sign and turn right onto N. Harbor Loop.

Look for a place to park and go down the ramp at Gate 3.  

At the bottom of the ramp, take a hard right and Heron Reach will be the last boat (third boat?) on the dock.

We look forward to seeing you.

Warm regards,

Ginny and Jerry

Come help us celebrate! We're in the WATER!!!

We will be celebrating soon with an open "house", and will post the time in the next few days.  Please watch for it so you can come see what it finally (well, almost finally) looks like.  Meanwhile, here's what we'ver been up to:

After 15 long months 'on the hard',we are finally in the water and living on board.  It happened on a cold November day right before Thanksgiving. First, they bring their long trailer up to the boat

They back it in slowly,

being careful to leave the front jackstand in place.  New coats of paint cover the bottom except the two spots under the wood blocks she's been resting on.

They slither the trailer in on either side of the keel and take out all but three of the jack stands.

When everything is in place, they raise up the arms to replace the jackstands as support.

Finally, Blaine gives the thumbs up to lift her off of the jackstands.

and she is completely supported by the trailer.  They go off to another project and I lay down under the trailer and paint the last two spots on the bottom of the keel.  She is finally ready for the water.

Now we just have to drive out of this spot.  It's tight, and they move her out VERY slowly!

Very, very slowly,

They tip her a little sideways to get around another boat.

Blaine watches carefully,

and she clears the other boat by a little over two inches.

They drive her over to the cradle

and gently rest her in it.

Soon, she is airborne. . .

and she touches salt water for the first time in 15 months

She's finally back at home.

This community has been a huge help in many ways:

We'd like to thank Peter and Lorraine who kept feeding us, though Lorraine keeps urging us to go out as far as Orcas Island, then return home and call the trip done.  The treasure trove of dried foods will carry us through the long passages.

Terry and Sandy fed us repeatedly and rebuilt one of the finest spear guns for future meals.

Appreciation goes to Susan for a gynormous bag of Chantrelles she gathered and dried and a perfect fishing pole to troll the oceans, double yum!

Tyler, Brooke, Keenan and LaSaya for taking our dog Sira and loving her.  It was great to watch LaSaya having an animated conversation with her and Sira looking like she was listening to her best friend. Parting with our animals sounded like it would be difficult, but actually was way more heart wrenching than we could have imagined.

Rio and Brian who adopted Squeaks and now have more fun and fewer mice.

Nancy and Alicia who both stepped up to adopt Cali who is proving to be more vocal and demanding than anyone expected of her.

"A" for the flask which has some rather nicely aged Patron in it.  I wonder how long that will last . . better bring something along for the refills.

Profound thanks to our Transition Goshen group which has showered us with food from their gardens, moving boxes and help moving all the furniture, etc. thank you all.  Side bar: if you don't have a Transition group in your neighborhood, consider starting one.  It's a deep joy to have such a close community we can count on for anything, anytime. I put out one email asking for help, and 19 folks responded to help move us and make lunch for the whole crew in the process! 

Paul made us two beautiful new cabinets for the boat.  They look like they came with the boat.

Samson Rope donated several new lines.  From right here in Whatcom County, comes one of the world's best rope makers!

Dave who took every CD we owned and moved them onto an iPod, opening up an entire locker of space for the important stuff like chocolate!  Special thanks to Dave for our future sweet tooth and great traveling music.

Jim found two folding bicycles and refurbished them.  They are not the fussy, parts only available from so and so, but rather the more sensible, useful, if it's broke, go to a local hardware store, anywhere in the world.  Also, one is green - my favorite color.  Island adventures, here we come!

Kathryn wrote a great article about us for the Whatcom Watch.

Hilary connected us with the Bellingham Herald for another good article.  

Alyson gave us a comfort pillow that will remind us of her and home, sigh. . .

Lisa wrote us some workouts tailored to the boat.  Something to help us stay awake on a long night watch and keep the core strong.

The Meridian and Highline School Districts will be following our exploits and checking in on some of the most endangered places of the world with us as we go along. 

Chris and Aurora are taking care of the fruit trees and keeping the bass and blue gill in balance in our pond. Chris has been planting the blue gill with his corn and getting some great results in his garden!

Bill and Toby are taking on the Jack of All Trades jobs to care for our home while we

are gone.  Toby will be doing Beaver patrol and dam maintainence, an endless task with those pesky busy beavers.

Bob and Martha and family will be living in our home. If you're in the neighborhood, check in with them and say, "Hello!"  It feels good to leave our home in their hands. 

Alicia will be the go-to person for all questions while we're gone.  We are resting easy knowing she is in charge.  

Finally, to our daughters - who walk a fine line between thinking we're nuts and being proud of us for standing up for the environment and taking on this endeavor.  A special thanks to our first grand child, Vivienne, born September 30th.  In general, we have tolerated folks talking about how perfect their grandchildren are and would you like to see their picture?  but now that we're grandparents, we admit, we must have drank the Kool Aid. We are smitten.  Would you like to see her picture?

Remember, watch for an Open House announcement in the next few days!

Almost ready, Oh, the places we'll go, and electricity anyone?

We are almost ready but not quite.  Currently, the boat is still a tool shed and collection of parts.  It 

looks something like this:

It's getting better everyday and we're working long hours. All the systems on board are getting upgrades. We've added all new plumbing, supply and sewage, new hatches, re-wired the mast and navigation elctronics, switched lighting to LED, new refrigeration system, new mattress, added some new sails and tracks, and, among many other upgrades, new lines.  Who knew we have what most say is the world's best rope maker here in Ferndale.  Samson has given us many of our new lines and given us a great bargain on the rest.  We will proudly display the Samson logo on our blog.  I have learned there is only one rope on a boat, and that's under the bell that calls you to dinner.  Everything else is a "line".  Boats seem to have a different word for everything!

We will be sailing to at least 33 countries!  It is considered common courtesy to fly the flag of the country you are visiting, so along with other provissions, we have gotten a flag for each destination

Along with getting the flags for each country, we also got our typhoid and hepatitis vacines.  The doc  sent us off with a book he put together on the seasons and areas of various diseases for each country on our list.  For example, here's the entry for malaria in Vietnam.  Some of the diseases require prescriptions to be started a week before arrival and continued for two weeks after leaving. 

Finally, we are making additions to our electrical generation.  The boat came with four solar panels, which can produce 300 watts.  Not enough for navigation tools, water maker (desalination), water pumps and refrigeration, not to mention radio, stereo, and computer.  We have added a wind generator and a water generator, all located on our new arch.  Note the empty stern and coiled wires in the first shot give way to power generation systems:

 Here's radar and wind generator.

Here's the water generator, and yes, we're still working at sunset. Finally, here's the complete generation system, with the four solar, wind and water generators.

We will host an open "house" before we leave and we'll post the info here on the blog.  Please consider signing up for the blog so you'll get a notice when there are new posts.  You might also check out

www.blueplanetodyssey.com

to see our route and some of the research projects we'll be doing. Wish us fair seas and following winds,

Ginny and Jerry on s/v Heron Reach

Pigs Feet, Stepping the Mast, Paring parts off the engine, and placating Neptune and Aeolus

Last week, Jerry and I spent an evening sewing up pigs feet.  This might not sound like a sensible preparation for a long journey, but surgical stitching was on our long list of new skills to learn.  Jerry's cousins, who are both emergent care physicians, gave us lessons in using lidocaine and some basic suturing. After practicing on some pigs feet from the butcher, we will now call ourselves at least somewhat ready to meet that emergency.  Some of our crossings may take up to a month and there will be no ER to drop into in mid ocean.

Yesterday we put in the new engine and "stepped" the mast.  We brought the engine in first.  The crane slowly lowered it into the hatch, and, of course, it was too big.  Jerry pared various parts off and we tried again, but still, no fit, up and down it went trying this angle and that until finally, all the edges entered the cabin below and the engine was in place under the galley sink.  

The mast was easier, if that can be said of a 55' mast.  Blaine and his crane operator, Gary gently lifted it with the crane and lowered it slowly through the deck.  When I first saw Blaine last fall, I mistook him for a homeless man from the nearby Mission.  Missing various digits and quite disheveled, I was impressed to learn he is someone who can move 20,000 pounds an inch in any direction at will.  He placed the wind instruments on the tip top. The mast was "stepped" onto an old silver dollar Jerry has had for years.  The tradition is to set the mast onto a coin to insure safe travel or, if not safe, to pay Charon to help us cross the River Styx.

In addition to learning how to stitch a gash, and other safety preparations, we have been mindful of all the old traditions, folklore and superstitions to secure safe travel.  The original name of Heron Reach was "Mal de Mer".  For those of you (myself included) who don't speak French, that's "Sea Sick".  It seemed like courting something we'd like to avoid.  To rename the boat, we followed old sea lore, removed everything from the boat that carried the name, read a statement of thanks to King Neptune and Aeolus (the web can get you any rite you need) for bringing the boat safely through so many trials.  We sprayed the best champagne we could afford into the air to land in the water (it's important not to insult either of them with cheap gifts).  We left the boat for a day to allow the old name to "float away" then returned with more champagne and requests to Neptune and Aeolus to protect Heron Reach in her future journeys.  At the time, we had no idea we were going to circumnavigate the world.

We are planning an open "house" in a few weeks so folks can come check out all we're up to.  Please watch for it soon.  

Just thinking about leaving home . . .

Hi everyone,

Welcome to our first Heron Reach Odyssey blog.  We are leaving our quiet log home in the forest

for the tight quarters of Heron Reach to circumnavigate the world.  We will be traveling with a rally of 35 or so boats to help bring awareness to climate change and how it is affecting the oceans.  We will be collecting data and working with NOAA, MIT, U. of Miami, Cornell University, UNESCO, and Plymouth University.  To find out more about the rally, check out Www.blueplanetodyssey.org.

But the life in the forest will give way to life on Heron Reach.  She's a 40' J Boat.  If she were a vehicle, she'd be a cross between a race car and a motor home, sleek and maneuverable, and some, but not much, living space.  Here's a pic of Jerry taken a couple years ago on a very quiet (windless) sail near Birch Bay on the U.S./Canadian border.  At that time we had no idea that within a few  years we'd be leaving our 20 acres and exchanging them for a full-time life on Heron Reach.

Right now, she's a total mess!  We have taken almost everything apart and we're in the process of repairing, adding systems, and outfitting her for the off shore passages.  Preparation for the trip has two main parts, changes in the boat, and changes for us.

We've been working out, building up core strength to increase balance and stamina.  This is a safety factor for rough seas and long watches.  We've also taken weeks worth of classes including: Spanish, using our new IPads, navigation,both using GPS and celestial, marine weather forecasting, sail rigging, sail repair, emergency medicine, provisioning, diesel systems and repair, refrigeration systems, marine electrical systems, using a life raft (here's hoping that won't be needed!), using radar, and much more.  We've also taught ourselves how to do all the boat up grades. 

Heron Reach is a 1987 fiberglass sloop J Boat.  The J Boats are famous for speed and ours rides easily in a light wind as well as heavy storms.  We've making several changes to her in perpetration for a circumnavigation.